But I think mysticism was the air the founder breathed and so an integral part of aikido.

Yes, that's a very good point.

Quote:

Interested in your take, Jun.

My thought is that mysticism is one manifestation of the spiritual aspects of aikido. I like the definition of "mysticism" that I just found on dictionary.com: A belief in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible by subjective experience.

I'm sure there are many people out there who will say that they are not interested in anything but the physical "put your partner's butt onto the ground" part of aikido. For them, I wouldn't necessarily say that any sort of mysticism. That is why I said that I do not necessary agree that mysticism is an integral part of aikido.